Wind deflectors are often used in conjunction with sunroofs in vehicles to direct air away from a roof opening and prevent excessive air turbulence from occurring within a vehicle passenger compartment. Currently known wind deflectors include arms that run parallel to guide rails of the sunroof. During operation, the arms on the wind deflector rotate about fixed pivot points so that they extend above the vehicle roof. The arms are oriented in a direction generally parallel to the guide rails. A flexible web, such as mesh or fabric, is connected to each arm so that each web stretches alongside each guide rail when the arms are lifted, directing wind away from the roof opening.
Although the pivoting action of the wind deflector arms does manage to lift the web above the vehicle roof, the long length of each arm and the location of the pivot points on the guide rails make it difficult to raise the web high enough to effectively deflect wind. Increasing the height of the wind deflector requires increasing the length of the arms and/or increasing the amount of material used for the web. However, the angled configuration of the wind deflector requires the length of each arm to be increased to a much greater degree than the desired change in height of the web, making height adjustments impractical. Moreover, many sunroof systems have limited packaging space, making it impossible to increase the size of the wind deflector in any case.
There is a desire for a wind deflector that can fit into limited packaging spaces while still being able to extend high enough to effectively deflect wind away from the roof opening.